Gabby
A Story of Courage and Hope
-
-
3.2 • 23 Ratings
-
-
- $18.99
Publisher Description
"An extraordinary tale…of love, of unthinkable trauma, of a heroic partnership… Redefining for the world what it means to be a fighter.”—People
The New York Times bestseller by Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly—an incredibly inspiring story of adventure, public service, love, and overcoming tragedy. Now a documentary film titled Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down.
The shooting of Gabby Giffords and nineteen others, six of whom were killed, took place in Tuscon, Arizona on January 8, 2011, in the early days of what has become a tragic and devastating escalation of mass shootings across the United States.
Gabby had just begun her third term serving in the Arizona House of Representatives and was meeting with her constituents when she was shot in the head. She was evacuated to the hospital in critical condition. Her husband, Mark Kelly, a retired U.S. Navy captain and an astronaut for NASA at the time, flew directly from Houston and dedicated himself to Gabby’s bedside as she fought to survive and recover.
This book chronicles the lives of these two extraordinary American figures—the careers that led them to one another; their passion for public service; and the grueling medical challenges and hard-fought journey to Gabby’s significant recovery. In 2013, Gabby and Mark launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, a non-profit and Super-Pac which would later become Giffords, an American advocacy and research organization focused on promoting gun control. That same year, Gabby received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in recognition of the political, personal, and physical courage she demonstrated in her public advocacy for policy reforms aimed at reducing gun violence.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Astronaut Kelly's 2007 marriage to Arizona Congresswoman Giffords marked another milestone in lives dedicated to the betterment of the state of Arizona, the nation, and the space program. But when Giffords was shot in the head in early 2011, the couple's lives took a direction neither could've anticipated. Told by Kelly, this stirring account traces family stories, the logistics of living through a medical nightmare, and his simultaneous struggle to command his final space mission. Determined to focus on that command, yet driven by his desire to meet Giffords's needs, Kelly split care-giving duties with her mother, recalling that throughout the ordeal "my wife was relentless." Later, the painstaking procedures of cranial surgery are detailed, along with the slow, miraculous recovery that culminated in Giffords's trip to Washington, D.C. to vote on the debt ceiling bill. Other achievements and challenges during the year particularly for Giffords's loyal staffers are also duly noted. Giffords herself, in simple, coherent language, provides a final page about her ongoing recovery to conclude this picture of a victorious human spirit.
